Toll-free telephone numbers (also referred to as Freephone, Freecall, or “1-800” telephone numbers), or simply toll-free numbers, are telephone numbers in which the calling party is not charged for the call by the telephone carrier. Toll-free subscribers, such as businesses, provide toll-free numbers for many purposes. For example, toll-free numbers are often provided for technical support, customer service, home shopping, telemarketing, and television viewer polling. Toll-free subscribers subscribe to toll-free service through Interexchange Carriers (IXCs), which receive calls from Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) and complete the calls to the toll-free subscriber. In a circuit-switched environment, routing a toll-free call to the proper IXC in the proper region is a relatively straight-forward matter, in part because the LEC is associated with a limited geographic location: the LEC receives toll-free calls from within that region, and uses an 800 Service Management System (800/SMS) database to identify an IXC to route the call to, within the geographic region. However, setting up toll-free calls through a packet-switched network, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks, to the preferred IXC in the appropriate region can be problematic, in part because toll-free calls originating in a VoIP network do not have geographic relevance.
When a conventional circuit-switched telephone is used to the make a toll-free call, the call enters the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through a local exchange carrier (LEC) or a competitive LEC (CLEC). The LEC has tandem switches that are connected to IXCs that can handle toll-free calls. Upon receipt of a toll-free call, the LEC queries an 800/SMS database, which returns a carrier identification code (CIC) identifying the IXC that handles the toll-free number. In such conventional situations when the call originates through a LEC and/or CLEC, the region or NPA area is essentially predetermined because the calling telephone is necessarily in the region of the LEC and/or CLEC. As such, toll-free calls from the LEC are routed to a preferred IXC in the region. Preferably, toll-free subscribers can reasonably estimate the number of toll-free calls expected in each region and can plan accordingly, in terms of providing the infrastructure (e.g., connections with the LEC) that may be required to handle the calls.
However, VoIP-enabled telephones are often designed for mobility, and calls made from VoIP-enabled telephones initially enter a VoIP backbone network that is geographically distributed. As such, VoIP calls originating from a given VoIP telephone, including toll-free calls, can enter the network at multiple geographic regions. Any given VoIP backbone network is typically connected to many LECs and CLECs. When a toll-free call is received on the VoIP backbone network, because there is no geographical relevance to the call, the call may be routed to any of the LECs, without regard for the region assigned to the caller. Under arrangements with CLECs, a VoIP network provider will sometimes simply direct toll free calls to a CLEC and rely on the CLEC to route the toll free calls to an appropriate IXC in the appropriate region. However, this has resulted in failed or misrouted calls. For example, sometimes calls are blocked by the toll-free subscriber because the calls appear to have originated from a time zone or region that is different from the region assigned to the caller. Consequently, conventional approaches to routing toll free calls through a VoIP network have had undesirable results from the perspective of IXCs and/or their toll-free subscribers.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that embodiments of the present invention have been made.